


Someday (Fic Edition)

by CobaltPhosphene



Series: Someday [2]
Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Back when they were all kids, Backstory, Child Abuse, Fic form of the Someday story, Fudging John's age a bit so he actually can remember this maybe, Gen, Implications of child abuse, Young Seeds, and have more to say than baby babble as cute as that can be, fic version of the same story, the word count ran too long so that's where the poem form came from
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:14:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25374508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CobaltPhosphene/pseuds/CobaltPhosphene
Summary: The unofficial fic version response to the prompt "Young Seeds" for the Far Cry 5/Far Cry New Dawn 2020 Zine "Tales From The Bunker", following a day's outing for the three brothers back when they were children. Version 2 of 2.
Series: Someday [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837549
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	Someday (Fic Edition)

“Are we there yet?” John asked, so excited he stumbled over his own feet as they trudged through the overgrowth. He grabbed onto Jacob’s shirt to catch himself from falling just as Jacob’s arm shot out to catch hold of his youngest brother’s shoulder, steadying John as they swayed for a moment.

“Whoa there shortstop, we’re almost there,” Jacob said, the corner of his mouth curling upwards in amusement, “don’t go tripping now or you won’t be able to jump into the water with a skinned knee. That’d be a shame now wouldn’t it, having come all this way and having to sit on the shoreside instead of playing in the water.”

John’s brow furrowed and he glanced down with a little pout at the tree roots underfoot, as if the roots had tried to trip him on purpose. “I’ll be careful, it’s just the tree roots are really knobby and tangled.”

“Yeah, all the more reason to mind your feet Johnny,” Jacob said, giving John’s hair a fond ruffle just to mess it up. John made a little “pfft” noise, smiling as he pushed Jacob’s hand away and flattened his hair back down. Jacob’s smile grew a bit at how much easier it was for them all to relax out here in the woods compared to back at home, glancing up to the third member of their little trio only to find Joseph not where Jacob expected him to be, bringing up the rear. “...hey, where’s your brother?” Jacob asked John, glancing about the trees nearby.

John turned around and looked over his shoulder along with Jacob. “He was there just a moment ago. Perhaps he found an interesting bug?”

“Joseph?” Jacob called out, raising his voice far enough to carry through the trees.

“Here,” came the answer, and there came Joseph, picking his way through the shrubs and tall grass from further down the gametrail they were following. “There was a neat looking beetle I wanted to take a moment to look at. I think it might’ve been a firefly. I’m not sure though, I’d have to check the coloration at the library again. I  _ think _ it was a common eastern firefly?”

“We can come back out again to do proper bug hunting with a notebook and colored pencils and check ‘em against the library book that way if you’d like,” Jacob offered.

It was well worth the offer to see Joseph look up and smile openly without trying to hide it. “I’d like that.”

“Next time then.” Jacob promised. “Come on, we’re close.”

The treeline soon broke as Jacob knew it would, transitioning down into bulrushes and languid green water, glinting with white and glassy, translucent blue on top from the sky overhead.

Joseph wrinkled his nose a bit at the color. “That looks a little...questionable, Jacob.”

“Bah, it’s just plant growth. Don’t drink any, and you’ll be fine.” Jacob said, dismissing Joseph’s concerns as he dropped his backpack off to one side and turned to John, squatting down to look their little kid brother in the eye. “You ready for take off, Captain Seed?”

John’s smile was as bright as the sun. “Yes!” He said, practically vibrating with eagerness as he held his arms up to his brother. This was the first time John had been big enough to come to this particular hideaway with Joseph and Jacob, and Jacob had promised John they could play “airplane.” Finally, the time was now!

“Roger that. Wheels up as we clear the runway,” Jacob said, pointing to John’s shoes as he toed his own off and pulled off his own socks to tuck away with his sneakers.    
  


John was hasty to do the same, and then Jacob picked him up, hoisting him over one shoulder facing forward, clutching at Jacob’s shoulder like the little monkey he was, excitement gleaming in his eyes.

  
“Jacob be careful,” Joseph cautioned, hovering by the waterside, still casting the water a suspicious look while looking on. Jacob nodded, full of assurance for himself and his middle brother.

“Contact, liftoff!” Jacob called out as he ran about the small clearing, making airplane noises and building up more speed, with John giggling madly in delight all the while. “Approaching destination Cap’n, we’re going to have to make a water landing!”

At that point, Jacob veered off from his looping about the clearing and ran straight for the water’s edge where it was deep and safe, jumping in as high and far out as he could, grinning widely as he heard John’s giggling turn into an exhilarated squeal right before they hit the water with a loud splash. They broke the surface laughing and sputtering, Jacob making sure John was staying above the surface and not struggling to keep afloat. They looked to Joseph and waved him over. “Come on in Joe, the water’s fine!” Jacob called out.

Joseph’s expression had lightened up a bit at how much John was still giggling away, a good sign. Making up his mind at last, Joseph put aside his misgivings along with his shoes, socks, and backpack before he drifted a bit closer to the edge of the water, putting a toe in to test it. He didn’t see Jacob drifting closer like some old crocodile in a swamp, or more comparable in John’s opinion a tiger sneaking through a jungle with that bright flash of red hair moving in a sudden blur from the water to grapple Joseph in a bear hug and yank him back under the surface. Joseph had only a brief moment to yell in surprise, and then when the two older brothers surfaced it escalated into a splashing fight which had John howling with laughter. They spent the rest of the afternoon frolicking in the water, dragging themselves ashore as the sun started to lower to dry their feet off and unwrap their PB&J sandwiches, sharing a small bag of potato chips and a cookie between the three of them as they sipped from reused water bottles. They wrung what water they could from their clothes and put their socks and shoes back on to pick their way back through the woods, following Jacob back to the uncertain edge where nature overtook abandoned pieces of once-civilization. Over and between cracked concrete sidewalks and walls slowly filling with weeds and climbing vines sprouting up alongside tiny scraggly trees, all advancing in a slow war of attrition to reclaim the dull, hard, grey surfaces and fill them with life once again. Just like how they’d fill their own lives with life once they got out of  _ here, _ Jacob was certain. They were all certain. All hopeful. But that was some other time, not yet, not now. For now, Jacob led his brothers in through a hole in a chain link fence into the community center—it’d been closed a long time ago, the pool on its grounds long dried and unused, but as Jacob demonstrated with the flick of a locker room light switch, there was still power and water in the other facilities.

“Let’s clean up, make sure not to walk barefoot on the tiles, you might get warts or something.” Jacob cautioned, putting his backpack down on a bench after Joseph had wiped the surface down with a bit of antibacterial soap from the bathroom.

John looked at the floor with consternation, then back at Jacob. “How are we to clean up without taking our shoes off then?”

“Not without shoes.” Jacob held up a very squashed bundle of plastic grocery bags and a roll of “purloined” shipping tape up in response. “Behold, your makeshift shoe covers. We can make use of some of the paper towels for added layering protection too. Let me teach you the fine art of making raincoats for your shoes.”

The bottom part went as expected, a bag over one shoe and up past the ankle taped securely shut, then a little capelet made a ripped second piece of plastic bagging to spread over over the top sealed edge of the bottom half. Some paper towels inside the bottom bag wrapped around the sock and ankle served as a hopeful last barrier against any wayward water that managed to trickle inside. Once properly waterproofed as much as they could be, they headed into the showers, still fully clothed, intent on washing out the worst of the lakewater smell from their persons and clothes. There was still hand soap to use, though it left their hair rough to the touch. Better than smelling of algae though—less questions asked that way if Old Mad Seed was awake and in a foul mood back at home. From his backpack, Jacob pulled out another series of plastic bags, these ones full of dry clothes and thin, somewhat worn bath towels. “John, you go change first,” Jacob ordered, not wanting John to stay in wet clothes longer than necessary—he’d catch chill faster than Jacob or Joseph did. “Take your dry stuff in this bag, these scissors, and go change in the girls’ handicap bathroom stall, it’s roomier.”

John looked up at his eldest brother, his brow wrinkled in confusion. “The girls’? But I’m not a girl.”

“Yeah but it smells better in there,” Jacob explained. “Less piss on the seats and such, I’d guess.” Therefore, it was probably a bit cleaner. Not that they should touch much in there anyway.

“Jacob! Language,” Joseph said, frowning a bit.

“Fine, less pee on the seats. Didn’t think piss was that bad of a word, it’s just another way of saying pee.”

“We should still set a good example of proper language use in front of John. So, thank you, Jacob.”   
  
Jacob hummed and shooed John off to the bathroom then. “Go on then, John. There’s no girls here and no one to tattle on us all for it, might as well make use of the amenities. Use the paper towels to keep off the floor and other surfaces.”

John nodded, accepting that logic and trundled off with his armful of clothes to the bathroom outside, just down the hallway.

“Come on Joseph, we can start wringing out our shirts and drying them a bit with paper towels while we wait for our turns.” Jacob said, nudging Joseph’s shoulder with one hand and headed over to the dispenser. There weren’t many paper towels left, but that didn’t matter. They were meant to be used, and simply had been abandoned once the community center had been shut down due to lack of funding. Now that John was out of the room, Jacob peeled off his shirt and wrung it out as hard as he could, squeezing as much water as he could get out into a nearby floor drain.

Joseph looked over and clucked, sounding very much like a worried hen. “You were cautioning John not to get hurt before jumping in the water but you didn’t take your own advice, Jacob?”

“There’s no broken skin, it’s just welts and bruises,” Jacob replied, glancing back at Joseph over his shoulder. The injuries in question were the testament to Old Mad Seed’s anger, simply the latest entry in the long history of abuse the old man had inflicted upon the three of them, Jacob most of all. It was probably fine.

“Let me get the antibiotic ointment out,” Joseph said, reaching into a side compartment of his backpack and pulling out a little sandwich bag of first aid odds and ends—a few bandages, some bagged q-tips and cotton swabs, and of course ointment. Joseph promptly gave Jacob a look as the latter opened his mouth to dismiss the former’s worrying once again.

Jacob wisely shut his mouth instead of protesting. “Alright fine, have it your way.” He said, pulling out his towel and patting his upper body dry, “just make it quick, I don’t want John to see. Don’t want to make him sad after we’ve had a good day out.” It’d be a sad way to end the day.

Joseph nodded, satisfied with this compromise—he was more inclined to work slowly and ensure thorough coverage, but he could do good enough treatment a little faster. 

One cotton swab and a generous amount of first aid ointment later, Jacob was pulling on his clean, dry shirt, grimacing as he did so. “It sticks to my back,” he complained as the fabric clung slightly to where the ointment sat upon his skin. That was Jacob just being grumpy though, as he always was outwardly when Joseph worried over him.

“If it helps keep you from getting an infection, then it is well worth it, Jacob,” Joseph said patting Jacob’s shoulder, smiling to himself as he turned away to pack up his makeshift first aid kit. Same old, same old, in these peaceful moments of theirs. The door creaked open then and John came back, wet hair neatly combed to one side, dressed in dry clothes and with his bag of wet clothes in tow.

“Thank you Jacob,” John said dutifully, offering the scissors back to Jacob—John’s feet were now free from plastic and tape, and happily dry.

“Anytime shortstop,” Jacob said, ruffling John’s hair once again just to mess it up, again. John laughed and swatted Jacob’s hand away to neaten his hair, as he always did.

“You next Joseph.” Jacob said, handing the scissors over. So it went, the three of them taking turns to go change in privacy and un-bag their feet, chucking the cut up plastic and tape into a garbage can that likely would never be emptied out.

The sun had almost set, tucking itself away behind the horizon as the last vestiges of amber and orange glowed against the deeping hues of purple and blue, like molten, holy gold poured out from some ancient god’s forge across the sky. The stars had begun to peek out, awakening like glittering pinpricks of polished silver, so far removed from the dust and dirt of the world. Whip-poor-wills sang in the fallen dusk, like heralds ushering in the coming of night amidst a chorus of crickets.

It was beautiful.

“I wish we could stay like this forever,” John said quietly as they walked home, holding securely onto Joseph’s hand. 

Home, where instead of tall grass and warm evening air, empty bottles of whiskey were strewn across the floor with the stale scent of must and alcohol hanging about like a shroud. Home, where instead of being free beneath the wide open skies full of beautiful vivid colors, they were caged in among shabby beige and stained, off-white plaster. Home, where sweet birdsong and innocent cricket chirps were exchanged for screams of rage and promises of damnation. Home, where they could be hurt.

Home shouldn’t mean that, they all knew.

“Someday we’ll be able to stay like this, John. I promise,” Jacob said solemnly, meaning every word of it. “Someday we’ll have a home that will mean the things “home” should mean, that will be a good place to be, and where no one can come and hurt us ever again.”

Joseph made a soft noise of agreement, looking up at the sky overhead. “Someday. We’ll need to all get jobs once we’re adults, and make a lot of money so we can live somewhere nice, have enough to eat, and be able to do as we wish.”

It was something to hope for. They could do it, together.

“I’ll make boatloads of money then,” John declared, speeding up to keep up with Joseph a bit more when John had lagged behind a bit too much. “I’ll make so much money, we won’t ever have to worry about anything ever again. I’ll buy you both all the things you could ever want, like candy and ice cream and roast beef sandwiches.”

“Ice cream and sandwiches huh?” Jacob chuckled. “Well, can’t do anything about those two, but candy, now…”

John looked up suddenly at Jacob with wide eyes, almost stumbling over a crack in the pavement, with Joseph catching their little brother to ensure he didn’t fall.

“Careful now John—you tired?” Jacob asked, tilting his head in concern as he appraised the younger boy.

“No! ...maybe a little,” John admitted. “But candy?”

That made Jacob snort. He unshouldered his backpack and crouched down over it, reaching down into the very middle where he’d wrapped and buried something special. From in the depths of yet another plastic bag and a couple of wrapped towels, he produced a Snickers bar, and a box of Raisinets, holding the two items up triumphantly. Despite running the risk of melting the candy somewhat in the summer heat, Jacob had wanted to keep them until the end of the day, just in case they’d all needed a pick-me-up to make the end a little bit better. Slightly melted candy was better than no candy at all.

“Where’d you get those?” Joseph asked, curious and interested, but also slightly suspicious and just a bit resigned with the expected conclusion.

“There was a five finger discount down at the gas station run by that assho—”

“ _ Jacob, _ ” Joseph objected,

“Fine, run by that bastard—”

“Jacob.”

“By that mean, awful man across from the old drive-through. Okay?” Jacob finished finally, holding out the snickers to John, who took it eagerly.

“You shouldn’t steal, Jacob, even if he is an awful person,” Joseph said, before quietly adding, “...but thank you.”

“Hey, it’s not even all that melted!” John called out excitedly as he ripped open the wrapper. Looking up between his brothers he asked, “want some?”

“Nah, you go ahead Johnny. I got it for you.” Jacob said, waving the offer away and handing the box of Raisinets to Joseph.

Joseph shook his head, patting John’s shoulder. “You go ahead and enjoy it, John. We’ll be fine. We can share some pieces of mine easily enough.”

John looked between the two of them, then at the Snickers bar, and then carefully, deliberately started breaking it as close as he could into even thirds.

“John, no—” Jacob began.

“John yes,” John interjected instead, offering a slightly messy piece of chocolate, caramel, peanut-y goodness to his eldest brother.

Jacob just looked at the offered piece, before shaking his head with a silent laugh and taking the gooey not-quite-mess from his brother’s hand. Carefully. “Thank you, John. I appreciate it.”

John looked satisfied, before turning and offering the other broken piece to Joseph.

“John, it’s your favorite—” Joseph said in the beginning of an objection, but John shook his head vigorously.

“I like candy best when we can share it, it’s nicer that way.” John said. “Then everyone gets to enjoy it, and everyone’s happy.”

Joseph couldn’t argue with that. After a moment’s hesitation, he took the offered candy piece with a soft word of thanks and a smile. “But you should try some of mine too, and see if you like it, John. If you do, you should have some more pieces. It’s fair that way.”

John, who was already taking a hearty bite out of the remaining section of his candy bar, looked over at Joseph with raised eyebrows while chewing.

“...after you finish your mouthful.” Joseph amended, pulling open one side of the box and tilting a small palmful of chocolate covered raisins out, offering the handful to Jacob. They weren’t melted at all, surprisingly.

Jacob took them, popping all the pieces into his mouth. Rasinets were alright, but they were more Joseph’s favorite than his. He preferred more fruit-forward candies, or just fruit. He’d save the Snickers chunk for last though.

The next piece Joseph picked out went to John, who took it and looked it over carefully, glancing back to how Jacob was chewing away and didn’t seem to object to the taste to reassure himself that this new food item was acceptable. John trusted Joseph, but Jacob was an easier yardstick to measure things by openly with how easy their oldest brother was when it came to expressing emotions. Joseph was more...restrained in his emotional expression, both in intensity and in certain kinds of emotion. Satisfied that it seemed like it was decent by Jacob’s response, John carefully bit the candy in half, chewing thoughtfully for a long few moments.

“Do you like it?” Joseph prompted gently.

“I don’t know,” John admitted, putting the other half in his mouth and continuing to chew it with an expression of concentration.

Jacob laughed at that, cramming the entire piece of Snickers John had gifted him with into his mouth in one go, chewing as pulled his backpack back on. Dropping back into the earlier half crouch he gestured to John to come closer. John knew what was up, stepping closer so Jacob could hoist him up to carry him against one shoulder, one arm crooked under his little brother’s legs to keep him steady. “Come on Joe, let’s go,” Jacob said through his mouthful of chocolate and caramel, clapping a hand to Joseph’s shoulder.

“Finish chewing first, Jacob,” Joseph chided gently, offering John another Raisinet, which the six-year-old took thoughtfully, biting it in half once more to try to figure out if he liked or disliked the candy.

Jacob made a show of exaggerating his chewing, before swallowing and opening his mouth wide to stick his tongue out with a cheeky “bleeeh,” at his middle brother. John giggled, a smudge of chocolate smeared across his face as he covered his mouth with one slightly messy hand.

Joseph snorted, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards before he glanced aside, distracted. His expression eased into one of open wonder for a moment, before a smile started to form on his face. “Jacob, John, look, the fireflies have come out,” he said, reaching to hold Jacob’s shoulder as if he needed to get his older brother’s attention to look at the sight before them.

Out through old chain link fences and across tall weeds, little blinking yellow-green lights wandered up and down through the air, far closer and more down to earth than the distant, untouchable stars overhead.

“Fireflies!” John called out, excited to see them, but also excited because he knew Joseph liked them.

“I think I was right earlier, I think that was a common eastern firefly, look you can tell by how they fly up in that j shaped pattern while they’re glowing,” Joseph said, pointing excitedly, pulling Jacob along by the sleeve of his shirt, and by extension John.

“Not much of a name, common eastern firefly, they should’ve given them something else to remember them by,” Jacob said, grumbling but amused and supportive of his younger brother’s interests.

“They’re also called big dipper fireflies, because of how they move through the air when flashing,” Joseph continued, pulling them around to get a closer look at the little lightning bugs flying free through and around the obstacles in their way. He held onto the chain link fence, fingers wrapped through and around the old, rough metal, watching them, enraptured. The three of them stood there as the sun’s last light faded more and more from the sky, until it was well and truly night, just watching the fireflies dance delicately through the warm air.

Someday, all three of them would fly free, without fences or walls, without visible or invisible chains to keep them down with their faces to the ground. Joseph really hoped they would. He’d confided that hope and dream to Jacob more than once in hushed whispers when it’d just been the two of them over the years, before John had been born. Then it’d been whispers between the three of them, even before John was truly old enough to understand that the stories they told him were the maybes they wanted for themselves, someday. He was growing older and stronger every day though, and they’d have to figure out what to do when they were old enough to leave. They’d had to reevaluate, because despite the age gap, they weren’t going to leave their littlest brother behind. Their future was uncertain, but in that uncertainty...there was hope. Hope that it could change. Change into something else.

Joseph’s fingers tightened against the unrelenting metal wires, equally as soothed by the uncertainty that the tomorrows they lived now would one day change, as he was unsettled by not knowing what their future would bring when those tomorrows ended.

Jacob could guess what thoughts were going on in his brother’s head, reaching up with his free hand to rest it against Joseph’s back. “It’ll be alright, Joe. Someday.”

“Someday!” John chimed in, still so young, still able to hope so much more openly than either of his older brothers could while the long, dark shadow of Old Mad Seed fell across them all. They had to be careful, Jacob and Joseph both knew, to try to keep John from ending up as guarded and numb as the two of them had already. They’d fail here and there, as they already had multiple times, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. It wasn’t for lack of  _ care _ . Someday they’d be protected, safe.

“Someday,” Joseph agreed with a little nod, letting go of the chain link fence and falling in step beside Jacob as the three of them continued on to the place they called home—a home that they would one day escape, to make a  _ real _ home of their own, someday.

Someday.

**Author's Note:**

> Big shoutout to all the lovely folks who made the zine happen, in particular UncleFungustheGoat on tumblr (SpaceGoat on Ao3) for organizing it and everyone else who pitched in with all their wonderful work!! :D The accompanying art for the poem form of this story in the zine was made by the delightful Bybats on tumblr, please feel free to check all these fine folks' tumblrs out—the full list of credits can be found in the zine which is free to download for all, here:
> 
> https://unclefungusthegoat.tumblr.com/post/622348924156608512/far-cry-5-fanzine-2020


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